the ugly duckling among the swans

Before I came to Melbourne to study journalism, my friend who is studying media in Perth told me,

"No matter which class you go to, there will definitely be ONE Singaporean. I went to a class, there were 23 students. 11 were Singaporeans, and 12 were Aussies."

My friend's right.

No matter which class I go to, there will always at least be ONE Singaporean.

And, that's myself.

It was hard getting used to the idea. Going to a class full of yellow heads and blondes, where you are the only Asian, where no one bothered to talk to you, where the Aussies congregate, where you feel different, out of place, foreign. Before I came here, I had a very idealistic view. But, after I came here, I noticed that EVERYONE sticks to people who are a mirror reflection of themselves. The Asians stick with the Asians, the Aussies stick to the Aussies. That's the rules of the game. You either stick to it or you rewrite the rules. Most people do the former.

In a world where the Chinese stick to the Chinese, the Westerners stick to the Westerners, being the only Asian studying Journalism (an unpopular course in the East, no doubt), with no Vietnamese, no Malaysians, no Indonesians to turn to (my Modern Asia class is the only exception), you are forced into a situation whereby you have to change things.

Any Asian student who has ever studied in Australia can tell you how difficult it is to make friends with the Aussies. Reasons have been given for this: saying that Aussies may not be as confident as they appear to be, they might have the same insecurities as the foreign students, and so they choose to mix with their own kind.

But the rule of the game is: You have to be the first to throw the dice.

You see so many Asians on the street that you forget this is Melbourne, that this is a Western country (afflicted with the "Sydney disease" - large influx of foreigners). But, then you take a further look, and you realize the great segregation of skin colours.